What impression would a stranger get of you?

At my friend’s birthday lunch I didn’t know any of the other guests so had a great time finding out about them over some great food and nice wine ( yes- I know it was lunchtime but it was a special occasion).  After a while I mentioned something about my work and the lady sitting next to me said  “I thought you must do something that helps people with their confidence”.  This was quite a surprise as to that point I had not talked about my business at all so her comment had to be based on how I was in that conversation.  I thanked her because as feedback on how I am generally it was very valuable.

Our personal “brand” is very important. Just like any product or service in an organisational setting we need to live up to our reputation  – and we need to be aware and in control of that reputation to ensure that it is not at odds with what we want it to be.

I know that first impressions can be lasting and hard to change and sometimes it really has little to do with how you behave and a lot to do with how the person getting the impression feels at the time.

But many  of us will know someone who behaves one way at work and is quite surprisingly different in a social setting. I don’t know how people manage to do that!

 It must be much easier to be true to yourself so that those who know you and strangers – or people you have not met yet – get to know the same person. Or am I missing something?